The Embezzling 'Sport' Walks Free
A technical error in the wording of an indictment leads to the dismissal of charges against Elmer Mayberry, a well-known local gambler.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Owing to a difference of opinion between Judge Humes and Prosecuting Attorney Miller as to the phraseology in the indictment, the case of Elmer Mayberry, the well-known sport, who was indicted for embezzlement, was dismissed yesterday afternoon. Mayberry had taken diamonds from wholesaler Rumpf & Mayer, which he had been given to sell on commission, and pawned them at Barto & Smith to fund a spree in Tacoma and Portland. At his trial, it was claimed that while the complaint represented Mayberry as embezzling while acting as an agent, it did not state that he was an agent at the precise moment the embezzlement took place. The case was dismissed due to this technical fault.
“It was claimed that by the wording the embezzlement took place in King county, state of Washington, on a certain day, but that while the complaint represented Mayberry as embezzling while acting as an agent, it did not state that he was an agent when the embezzlement took place.”
The tension between technical legal requirements and the desire for justice often leaves the public feeling that 'the system' failed, a sentiment that echoed loudly in Seattle’s courtrooms in 1893 just as it does today.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.